At 14:00 on August 31, 2014, Dadong Police Station, Heping Precinct, Taichung City Police Department, received a report through 110 saying that a 30- people-group from Tainan Dijhibo Mountaineering Association were climbing the Yuanzui Mountain and one hiker was so ill that she could not get down by herself. Our police officer took note of the location and symptoms of the patient, judging that she might be suffering from altitude sickness and physical exhaustion. The police immediately notified the staff of the Forestry Bureau to go to the site with a first-aid kit, oxygen tanks, dry food, water and rain gear.

To save time, the 3 rescuers decided to get into the mountain from the ravine at the 27.3 km mark of Xueshan Road. At that time, a thunderstorm occurred suddenly, making the steep and slippery stone pavement even more difficult to climb. After 40 minutes of struggling, they reached the accident site located 100 meters from the trig point of Yuanzui Mountain at 15:20 and found the pale-looking woman surnamed Guo lying on the ground with weak breath. To calm her down, our police officers gave her an oxygen tank and told her to do deep breath slowly. After 30 minutes, Guo looked better and confessed that she had arrhythmia and had had similar symptom before.

Later, the firefighters arrived at the scene and assessed that Guo could move by herself. They held her arms and walked her down the bare cliffs. Finishing the most thrilling 300-meter cliff road, Guo seemed completely exhausted that she needed to take a break for water and oxygen every 20 or 30 meters. Not until the police asked her did Guo admit that she has diabetes and, shortly after, she fell into a coma. Fortunately, a hiker surnamed Deng volunteered to carry Guo on his back to the bottom of the hill, from where an ambulance rushed Guo to Dongshih Farmers’ Hospital.

This rescue task on a very dangerous route under thunderstorm was regarded as the biggest challenge the police station ever experienced and Guo’s physical and health status made the situation even worse. Without the rescue crew who tackled the difficult situation with calm, the rescue mission wouldn’t have been completed successfully.